CoQP is essentially a reimagined local history project about the rural area where I grew up. I photographed interventions in abandoned cottages, a process that allowed me to both explore and leave a mark on the local community.

Why did you make the work?

The nature of domestic arrangements in the countryside have changed so much since I was a child and the work is an attempt to reconcile this change with what was once familiar and also with the remnants of an even older way of life that still persists but is outside the scope of my own experience. The redundant nature of the domestic subject matter in these empty houses allowed for direct engagement; by disrupting the scene with bright colour and movement I could briefly reanimate it and situate it in the present. There is a tendency to romanticise the rural past, and it is not my intention to invoke nostalgia for a disappeared way of life. These abandoned cottages exist as part of the contemporary landscape, and rather than investigate an imagined past, they allow me to create my own fantasical space in the community.

How did you make the work?

The first stage is to walk around looking for empty houses that i can get into, or ask to be let into. Once I have some photos of the interiors I print them out and doodle on them. Then I go back and attempt to recreate the doodles for the photograph, which is always a hit and miss procedure, but it is great fun.